Drilling and countersinking machine



E. L. HAMILTON ET-AL DRILLING AND COUNTERSINKING MACHINE oct. V27, y1942'.

'7 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 24, 19411 INVENTORS "ATTORNEY Oct- 27, 1942- l.. HAMILTON ErAL 2,300,253

DRILLING AND COUNTERSINKING MACHINE Filed June 24, 1941 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 ffl Oct. 27, 1942. E. L.' HAMILTON ET'AL DRILLING AND COUNTERSINK'ING MACHINE Filed June 24, 1941 I 7 sheets-sheet 5 I, "Si

Oct. 27, 1942. E. l.. HAMILTON. ETAL 2,300,253

DRILLING ANI/ COUNTERSINKING MACHINE Filed June 24, 1941 7 SheeiS-SheefI 4 AONE Oct. 27, 1942.

E. HAMILTON ET AL DRILLING AND COUNTERSINKING. MACHINE 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 24, 1941 OGL 27, 1942 E. L. HAMILTON' ET AL DRILLING AND COUNTERSINKING MACHINE Filed June 24, 1941 "7, Sheets-Sheet 6 ft M m w 5 a ,Vl D E Rl: N OfM R ma o 6H T V A NWN BYtr Oct. 27, 1942.

E. L. HAMILTON ET AL DRILLIING AND GOUISITIEIRSINKING MACHINE 7 sheets-sheet 7 Filed June "24, 1941 Patented oei. 27, i942 2,300,253

UNITED STATES PATENT oler-ICE` DRILLING AND COUNTERSINKING MACHINE Ernest L. Hamilton and Lawrence V. Whistler,- Kenmore, and William G. Dechend and John J. Lee, BuHalo, N. Y., assignors to Curtiss-Wright Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Application June 24, 1941, Serial No. 399,438

18 Claims. (Cl. 7721) This invention relates to machines for process- Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; ing metal components, and is particularly con- Figs. 4 and 5 are respectively front elevations cerned with an automatic machine for drilling of the right and left hand portions of. the maa plurality of spaced holes in long slender metal chine;

strips. 5 Fig. 6 is a plan on the line 6 6 of Fig. 4;

In the construction of modern aircraft, mono- Fig. '7 is a section on the line 1-1 of Fig. 4;

coque body and Wing structures are used in which Fig. 8 iS a Section 0n the line 8-8 of Fig 5;

many stiieners are incorporated, these taking Fig. 9 is a side elevation taken on the line the form of channels or angles to which the me- 9-9 of Fig- 5; tallic aircraft skin is secured by a large number l0 Fig. 10 iS a plan 0f part 0f the Control System;

of rivets. The drilling of the large number oi Fig. l1 is an enlarged detail of part 0f the necessary holes in the slender stiffener elementsV driving System;

is obviously an arduous and time consuming task Fig- 12 iS en enlarged Perspective View 0f e when the holes are drilled by hand or on conpart 0f the feed control mechanism;

ventional machines-templates for the spaced 1f Fig- 13 iS e fragmentary DeI'SpeCtiVe VieW 0f holes can be used but they are not particularly Dart 0f the Control, feed, and Clamping mechasatisfactory. nisms; and

An object of this invention is to provide en Figs. 14 and 15 are plan views of alternate arautomatic drilling machine in which spacing oi r angernents 0f drilling units. drilled holes may be aorded by indexing a mem- Referring rSt to Figs. l to 5, the machine comber extending parallel to the we1-kpieee and prises a central standard I5 having, at its upper movable therewith with respect to a drill spindle, end, front and rear tables I6 and I1 With a Worksaid member being indexed automatically in the piece Support I3 therebetween. The lOWer part intervals when the drill Shank is not engaged F of the standard l5 carries a motor 2l) having a with the work-piece. A further object is to pro- 2" built-in reduction gear which drives a sprocket vide a machine which will progressively drill and 2|, driving through a Chain-22 to a Sprooket 23 countersink a plurality of holes in a Work-piece. rearward of the table ll- The Sprocket 23 A further object is to provide a machine which driVeS a Shaft 2d through a dog Clutch 25 se- Will minimize the formation of burrs or rough leCtiVely engageable or disengageable through a edges on the work-piece to avoid the necessity lever 25 Connected by a Push-pull rod 2'! to an for additional hend working einer the holes have Operating handle 28 at the front of the machine.

been drilled. A further object is to provide a The Shaft 24 is J'Ourrlailed in the Standard l5Y machine which, when ence Set up to drm e, pluand carries a forward cam drum 30, beneath the raiity of spaced hoies in a long slender work- 3. table le, and a rearward @am drum 3l, beneath piece, will function automatically ater starting o the table ll'- The periphery of eaoh drum iS until all desired holes have been drilled. Still formed With on aXielly WaVed grOOVe 32 Within another object is to provide a machine in which .Which a folloWer Din 33 iS engaged. Upon the work is accomplished upon e, W0rkpieee upon table I6 is a reciprocable tool carrier 34 upon both sides thereof; that is, a drin is passed which 011e Said pin 33 is rigidly mounted, the through the W0rkpieee from one Side Subsequent carrier 34 having secured therein a power drill to which a countersink is engaged with the Work 35 having a drill bit 39. The table I'l has a from the opposite side, Further objects of the reipreeably mounted tool Carrier 36; said earinvention consist in the co-ordination and tim- Tier haVing the other Pirl 33 rigid therewith, and ing of speeds of Operation by which minimum having secured thereto an independently operatoperator attention is necessary in causing the ed DoWer drill 3l in Whose chuck a countersink machine to function properly. blt 33 iS Secured- Other objects ef the invention will become ep. When the shaft 2l! is driven, the cam drums 3l parent in reading the annexed detailed descrip- Will cause the slides 34 `and 36 to reciprocate tion in connection with the drawings, in which: from front to rear in timed relation in accord- Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a central part of ance With the proile 0f the cam grooves 32. the machine, partly in section, and comprises a Referring to Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7, it will be seen section on the line l-I of Fig. 2; that a Work supporting rail 40 extends from the' Fig. 2 is a plan of the central part of the maleft of the standard I5 and is supported by horses chine; 55 di, while a Work supporting rail 42 is secured to the right-hand side of the standard l5 and is supported by horses 43. A slide 44 is movable along the rail 42 and carries a work-piece anchor 45 to which an undrilled work-piece is clamped, with the slide 44 in its leftwardmost position adjacent the standard I5. Also, to the slide 44 a notched bar 45 is secured by a screw 4l, this bar being substantially coextensive in length with the work-piece and having formed in its rearward edge, as shown in Fig. 6, a plurality of longitudinally spaced notches 48 whose purpose will be disclosed shortly. As shown in Fig. 3, the notched bar 46 passes through a suitable slot in the work support I8, while the work-piece, indicated in the gures at 49, runs along an anvil 58 secured to the work carrier.

Secured to the horses 4l, as shown in Fig. 5, is a cylinder 52 which extends nearly to the standard I5. Within the cylinder, a plunger 53 is telescoped, this plunger passing through the standard l5 as at 54 in Fig. 3 and extending to the right, along support rollers 55 secured to the rail 42. The righthand end of the plunger 53 is secured to a bracket 56 on the slide 44 and has an elastic coupling therewith through the medium of springs 5'! and 58 and an additional impulse spring 59. The lefthand end of the cylinder 52 is fed with compressed air, as will be described shortly, so that, assuming the plunger 53 is initially ltelescoped within the cylinder, it will be continually urged to the right under the influence of the compressed air. Incidentally, a buffer spring 68 is inserted in the left-hand, closed, end of the cylinder 52 to take up the shock when the plunger reaches the end of its ,leftward travel in the cylinder.

Upon a side face of the rear table Il on the standard (refer to Figs. 2 and l2) a bolt 62 is mounted in a slide 63 for fore-and-aft reciprocation, said bolt being urged by a spring 64 into engagement with the notched bar 45, said bolt having a tip 65 for engagement with one or another of the notches 48. A bolt operating lug 66 engages a cut-out 8l in the boltA B2 and is turnable about the aXis of its shaft 6B to retract the bolt from engagement with thev notched bar 45. A lever 69 is secured to the shaft 58 to afford manual'retraction of the bolt, which lever carries an abutment 1D against which may be manually slid a detent 'Il when an operator desires to hold the bolt 62 in a disengaged position with respect to the bar 45. The handle 69 is further provided with an extension 12, substantially pointed at its end, which may be engaged by a latch 73 hinged to the tool carrier 3B. Said latch includes a face 14 engageable with 'a face of the extension 12 so that, when the tool carrier 35 moves rearwardly, the latch 13 rotates the extension 12 in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in the figures to withdraw the bolt 62 from bar engagement. A cam 'I5 is adjustably secured by clamp screws I6 and an adjusting screw i8 to the table Il which engages a cam follower il on the latch 13 to afford disengagement of the face I4 from the extension 'l2 at the instant when the bolt 62 has been disengaged from the bar 48, during rearward movement of the tool carrier 38. Thereupon, the spring 54 urges the bolt G2 against the bar 46 permitting it to engage an adjacent notch 48 of the bar as the bar is urged to the right under the influence of the piston-cylinder assembly 52, 53.

of travel of the bar 45 would impose considerable shock on the system and it is for this reason that the springs 5l, 58 and 59 are assembled at the righthand end of the plunger 53 to absorb the momentum of the plunger.

It will be apparent that the bar 45 is allowed to traverse during rearward movement of the tool carrier 35, the latter being arranged so that its tool is disengaged from the work-piece 49 to a1- low free traverse of the work-piece to the rest position established by the bar notch 48. It will also be apparent that the spacing of the bar notches 48 establishes the locations of the workpiece 49 on its anvil 59 to allow of the drilling or counter-sinking of holes by the bits 39 and 38. When the spacing of holes in work-pieces is to be changed, it is merely necessary to sub- It is apparent that the Iinstantaneous stopping 75 stitute an appropriate notched bar 45 for the work intended, In practice, where the machine is to be used for a number of different component work-pieces, a number of notched bars would be prepared with a notch spacing appropriate to the several components.

In order to secure the work-piece rigidly while either one of the bits 39 or 38 are engaged therewith, clamping means are provided as shown in Figs. 3 and 'i3 consisting of a bellcrank 80 hinged to the work holder I8 so that its side face 8| bears on a spacer 82 which in turn bears on the front face of the work-piece 49. The top face of the bellcrank 89 is engaged by a plunger 83 slidable in a cylinder 84 which is supplied with compressed air at such time as the workpiece is stationary. The compressed air supply is relieved from the plunger 83 during those intervals when lateral feeding movement of the work-piece is being accomplished. Further securement of the work-piece is afforded by a roller 85 carried in a slide 88 which is pressed downwardly toward the work-piece by a spring 81. While unloading or loading the machine with work-pieces, the roller 95 is retracted from the work holder by a cam 88 provided with a handle 89, said cam bearing upon the top of the work holder.

v Referring again to Fig. 13, it will be seen that the cam drum 39 is also provided with a peripheral cam 90 engaged by a cam follower 9i which operates an air valve S2. Similarly, the cam drive 3| is provided with a peripheral cam 93 engaged by a cam follower 94 which operates an air valve 95. The valves 92 and 95 are fed from a pressure supply line 95. The valve 92, when the cam follower 9! is depressed, delivers air from the supply line 96 to a line 91 leading to the bottom of the work clamping cylinder 84. As the cam rotates, air is supplied to the cylinder bottom during part of the rotation of the cam 98 while during another part of its rotation, the compressed air in the cylinder and in the line ill' is allowed to exhaust through a vent 88. The valve in a similar manner is adjustable, in accordance with the position of the cam 93, to feed compressed air to the top of the cylinder 84 through a line 99 or alternately, to discharge compressed air from the top of the cylinder through a vent lll. The supply of air to the top of the cylinder 84 obviously causes clamping of the work-piece '49, during which interval, the bottom of the cylinder is vented at 98. In the other part of the cycle, the piston 83 is retracted from the work-pieceby the supply of air to the cylinder bottom and during clamping, air pressure is relieved from the cylinder bottom.

Fig. 10 shows the air control for the cylinder 52. 1An air supply line |04 leads to a valve |05 having three positions of adjustment. lIhe on position directs compressed air through a line |06 to the lefthand end of the cylinder 52, at the same time venting a line |07 leading to the righthand end of the cylinder 52. When the valve is in the off position, the air line |04 is shut oli. When the valve |05 is in the reverse position, compressed air is v alved to the line |01 while the line |06 is vented in order to retract the plunger 53 within the cylinder 52 to prepare the machine for reception of a new work-piece to be drilled. A pressure gauge |08 connected with the line |06 or |04 assures the operator of adequate air pressure for operation of the work traversing system.

It is believed that, from the foregoing, the mode of operation of the drilling machine will be fairly obvious. To summarize however, the following steps are followed: With the slide M moved all the way to the left, by actuation of the valve |65 to the reverse position, an appropriate notched bar 46 is clamped to the slide 44 and likewise, a fresh blank 49 is clamped at 45 to the slide. rI'he motor 20 is started (while declutched by the handle 28) and the drilling tools 35 and 31 are started, and the valve |05 is moved to the on position causing movement of the work-piece and the notched bar to the right until the rst notch of the bar is engaged by the bolt 52. Engagement of the clutch 25 is then effected by the handle 2B whereupon cyclic forward and rearward movement of the drilling devices and 37 is initiated with concurrent traversing of the notched bar and work-piece during those intervals in the cycle of the drilling devices when the tool bits are clear of the work-piece. Simultaneously, cyclic operation of the work clamping bellcrank 80 is accomplished, the clamping dwell of such bellcrank lasting from the time when the bolt 62 engages a bar notch until shortly before the bolt 62 is withdrawn from the bar notch. The machine proceeds in this fashion until all of the bar notches have been engaged sequentially by the bolt 62 whereupon stoppage of further bar traverse is accomplished by the engagement of an abutment ||0 toward the left end of the bar (Fig. 2) with a mating abutment secured to the work table I6. Said abutment I may be retracted for bar replacement by a handle ||2 shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

At times, the work-piece 49 may require holes of diierent size in the series to be drilled in one setup of the drilling machine. Rather than stop the machine to change drills, we provide arrangements as shown in Fig. 14 or 15, wherein the tool carrier 34 has a pair of power drills ||5 and ||6 mounted thereon, each having a drill of appropriate size.

In Fig. 14, the power drills ||5 and I6 are secured in axially parallel relation to a cross slide movable crosswise of the carrier 34 so that either may be aligned with the work station. The cross slide is secured in either position by a pin ||8 which also locks the appropriate power drill in the proper axial working position.

In Fig. 15, the power drills ||5 and |6 are secured to a bracket |20 in angular relation, the bracket being pivoted to the tool carrier 34 at |2| and being swingable so that either power drill may be aligned with the work station. Push pins |22 in the bracket are adapted to engage a suitable hole in the tool carrier for securing either power drill in position. i A While we have described our invention in detail in its present preferred embodiment, it will be obvious to those skilled Yin the art, after understanding our invention, that various changesand modifications may bevmade therein withoutv departing from the spirit or scope thereof; We aim in the appended claims to cover all such modifications and changes. f

We claim as our invention:

1. In apparatus for alternately and progressively drilling and countersinking holes in a work-piece, a support, means for intermittently feeding the work-piece across the support,l a drill movable into and out of engagement with said work-piece, a countersink tool coaxial with the drill likewise movable into and out of engagement with the work-piece, and means to alternately move the drill and countersink tool in timed relation into and out of work piece engagement while the work piece is stationary relative to the support. y,

2. In apparatus for alternately and `progressively drilling and countersinking holes in va work-piece, a support, means for intermittently feeding the work-piece across the support, a drill movable into and out of engagement with said work-piece, a countersink tool likewise movable into and out of engagement with the work-piece, and means to alternately move the drill and countersink tool in timed relation into and out of work piece engagement while the work piece is stationary relative to the support, said drill and countersink tool being coaxial and disposedy on opposite sides of said work-piece.

3. In apparatus for alternately and progressively drilling and countersinking holes in a work-piece, a support, means for intermittently moving the work-piece across the support, means for intermittently clamping the work-piece to the support, a drill movable into and out of engagement with said work-piece, a countersink tool movable into and out of engagement with the work-piece, vand means to alternately move said work-piece, said drill, said countersink tool and said work-piece clamping means in timed relation.

4. In apparatus for alternately and progressively drilling and countersinking holes in a work-piece, a support, means for feeding the work-piece across the support, means for intermittently stopping the work-piece, means for intermittently releasing said stop means, a drill movable into and out of engagement with said work-piece, a countersink tool likewise movable into and out of engagement with the work-piece, said feeding means, said stop means, said releasing means, said drill and said countersink tool all being actuated .in timed relation.

5. Apparatus for alternately and progressively drilling vand countersinking holes comprising. in combination, a frame, reciprocating means mounted on said frame, a table fixed to said frame, a drilling unit movably mounted on said table and actuated by said reciprocating means, a countersinking unit movably mounted on said table and actuated by said reciprocating means, a guide rail xed to said supporting table, la work carrier movably mounted on said rail, means for holding the work-piece to said work-carrier, an indexing bar xed to said work-carrier and adapted to move yalong said rail, means adjacent said rail for moving said work-carrier and said indexing bar along the rail, a stop member mounted on said supporting table and adapted to engage said indexing bar, and means for actuating said stop member, I

' 6. Apparatus for alternately and progressively drilling and countersinking vholes in long lengths of materials comprising, in combination, a frame, a rotary means journalled in said yframe, said means having cams, a supporting table fixed to said frame, a sliding member transversely mounted toward one end of said table, a drilling device mounted on said slidingmember, means connecting said sliding member to one cam to cause a reciprocating motion to said sliding member and hence the drilling device, a second sliding member transversely mounted on the opposite end of said table, a countersinking clevice mounted to saidsecond sliding member, means connecting last said sliding member to the other cam to cause a reciprocating motion to said last sliding member and hence the countersinking device, said countersinking device facing and being in axial alignment with said drilling device, a guide rail passing across and extending longitudinally from either side of said supporting table, support means for the outer 'ends of said guide rail, a work carrier slidably mountedy on said rail, clamping means iixed to said work-carrier for clamping one `end of the material to be drilled and countersunk, astationary support member fixed to said table in axial alignment with and between said drilling and countersinking means, a clamp in said support means for holding said material while being worked, an indexing-har having not/ches removably attached to said work-carrier and adapted to move along said rail, said notches being spaced to meet the requirements of hole spacing, a stop adapted to engage said notches, said stop being actuated by transverse movement of Said countersinking device sliding member, work-carrier actuating means, said means consisting of a cylinder and plunger, said means being mounted adjacent to and substantially parallel with said guide rail, one end of said plunger being iix'ed to said work-carrier, and fluid means for actuating said plunger and hence said carrier.

7. In apparatus for forming spaced holes in a long slender work-piece, a work table, a hole forming device slidable across the work table, means to clamp the work-piece to the table while the device is forming a hole, means to locate the work-piece along the table, and means actuated z by sliding of the device away from the workpiece to release said clamp and to traverse the work-piece along the table.

8. In apparatus for forming spaced holes in a long slender work-piece, a work table along which the work-piece may be moved, a hole forming device reciprocable across said table toward and away from the work-piece, means to clamp the work-piece to the table when the device is engaging the work-piece for a hole forming operation, and means to move the work-piece along the table while the device is out of engagement with the work-piece.

9. In apparatus for forming spaced holes in a long slender work-piece, a work table along which the work-piece may be moved, a hole forming device reciprocable across said table toward and away from the work-piece, means to clamp the work-piece to the table when the device is engaging the lwork-piece for a hole forming operation, a notched bar movable along the table to which said work-piece is secured, means to urge said bar along the table, a detent urged toward engagement with the bar notches to arrest work-piece movement along the table, and

asoobes means responsive to reciprocation of thek hole forming device while remote from the workpiece to trip said detent from a notch with which it has been engaged Yte allow movement of the work-piece until said detent engages the next notch of the notched bar.

l0. In a machine tool including a work station across which a blank is adapted to pass, means at the station for performing an operation on the blank, a blank carrier comprising a notched bar, means continually and elastically urging the blank and carrier across said work station, and means at the Work station engageable with the notches of said bar to arrest bar movement, and disengageable from the notches to allow bar movement. y

11. In a machine tool including a work station across which a blank is adapted to passgmeans at the station for performing an operation on the blank, a blank carrier comprising a notched bar, means continually and elastically urging the blank and carrier across said work station, a bolt at the work station engageable sequentially with the bar notches to hold the bar against movement, and means to trip said bolt periodically from a notch with which it is engaged to allow traverse of the bar until the bolt engages the next bar notch.

I2. In a machine tool including a work station across which a blank is adapted to pass, means at the station cyclically operable to perform an operation on the blank, a clamp movable relative to the work station, and power means to engage the clamp with the blank at the Same cyclic frequency as the iirst said means, said clamping engagement having a dwell longer than the dwell of the operation performed on 'the blank.

13. In a machine tool including a work station across which a blank is adapted to pass, means at the station cyclically operable to perform an operation on the blank, a clamp movable relative to the work station, power means to engage the clamp with the blank at the same cyclic frequency as the first said means, said clamping engagement having a dwell longer than the dwell of the operation performed on the blank, and means to move the blank across the work station when said clamp is disengaged from the work.

1li. In a hole forming machine, a track for blank material, reciprocable bit-carrying rotating spindles at opposite sides of the blank, said spindles being coaxial, power operated cam means to move iirst one and then the other spindle bit into and out of engagement with the blank, and means to traverse the work along the track while the spindle bits are clear of the work.

15. In a hole forming machine, a track for blank material, reciprocable bit-carrying rotating spindles at opposite sides of the blank, said spindles being coaxial, power operated cam means to move first one and then the other spindle bit into and out of engagement with the blank, means to traverse the work along the track while the spindle bits are clear of the work, and means to clamp the blank to the track during the interval when said bits are engaged with the blank.

16. In a machine tool feed system, a blank carrier, a pneumatic ram for moving said carrier in the direction of feed, and power means intermittently engageable with the blank carrier to arrest its movement.

l 17. In a machine tool feed system, a blank carrier, a pneumatic ram for moving said carrier in the direction of feed, power means intermittently engageable with the blank carrier to arrest its movement, a pneumatic ram intermittently operable to clamp the blank in the machine tool, and means to energize said ram at a time when movementl of the blank carrier is arrested.

18. In apparatus for alternately and progressively performing two successive machining operations on a work piece, a support, means for intermittently feeding the Work piece across the support, a rst machine tool movable into and out of engagement with said work piece, a second machine tool coaxial with said first tool and likewise movable into and out of engagement with the work piece, and means to alternately move said tools in timed relation into and out of work piece engagement while the Work piece is stationary relative to the support.

ERNEST L. HAMILTON. LAWRENCE V. WHISTLER. WILLIAM G. DECHEND. JOHN J. JLEE. 

